1. Field:
The invention is in the field of ash trays.
2. State of the Art:
Ash trays in use today provide a receptacle for ashes from cigarettes as they burn and for cigarette butts after smoking of the cigarette has been completed. Ash trays usually also provide a rest for cigarettes to hold the cigarette as it burns, when not being smoked, but when the smoker desires to keep it lit and available for smoking.
With the current concern for reducing the smoke in the air that non-smokers breath, it would be desirable to reduce the amount of smoke released by a cigarette while not being smoked by a smoker, for example, the smoke released by a cigarette while resting in an ash tray between drags by a smoker.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,746 I disclose that the smoke output of a cigarette may be reduced as it sits in an ash tray by providing a channel in which the cigarette may be placed and which fits closely about the outside of the cigarette for at least a third of the circumference of the cigarette, and preferably for a half of the circumference of the cigarette. While this channel is effective to reduce smoke output, I have found that it can cause discoloration of the cigarette. Further, it does not result in the controlled burning necessary to ensure that the cigarette can be picked up and smoked normally after being in the channel for an extended time.